NW Illinois News

Dierdre Silas was killed in January 2022 while responding to a call about possibly endangered children at a home in Thayer, approximately 23 miles south of Springfield. Silas, a child protection specialist for the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), was investigating "a report of abuse and neglect" against the parents of two children living at the residence.

On Thursday, Sangamon County Circuit Judge John Madonia convicted Benjamin Reed of first-degree murder in the killing of Dierdre Silas. Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser stated that the judge found Reed "had a mental illness as defined by Illinois law that was present at the time of the murder, leading to a guilty but mentally ill verdict."

House Minority Leader Tony McCombie has continued to advocate for better laws to protect DCFS workers, proposing they be afforded the same protections as police officers and firefighters. Although McCombie’s legislation has faced delays in the statehouse, she emphasized its importance this week, particularly in light of Dierdre Silas’ case:

"If you harm a DCFS worker or a Department of Aging worker, you should be penalized for that crime at the same level as if you were committing that same crime against a police officer, a teacher, a fireman. It should be the same; it is no different," said McCombie. "It’s not about protecting DCFS workers or Department of Aging workers; it’s about respecting them. This is a bill that we thought would have been a simple cleanup bill, an oversight, which we see a lot in Springfield, for first responders to be treated the same across the board."

Read more about Leader McCombie’s legislation here: Illinois House GOP Leader calls for harsher penalties for people who hurt DCFS workers (wgem.com).